Buried
by Seine
Summary: Rated for deathly themes. On the night of the new moon, an occurance happens, leaving him and Sango buried under 6 feet of dirt beneath the forest floor. ONE-SHOT


**Buried **

The night was warm, the stars twinkling bright at the new moon, casting an unusually low amount of light across the seemingly endless Feudal Era. Sleep would come well for most, except for 2 individuals that weren't exactly content with the new moon.

" Inuyasha, I'm going home, and that's final!" Kagome screeched, and dove through the well, leaving a stunned (and human) Inuyasha gripping at the air. He huffed, and stocked away from the well, quite angry at the insolence of the human girl. But then again, he was human now, wasn't he? Miroku sighed, and simply walked off to get some rest within Kaede's hut. Inuyasha looked around. No one was looking. He walked back to the well and slumped down on it's side, glaring at the grass. He hated being human. They were too weak for his liking. He was so lost within his own thought, that he didn't even hear someone sit down beside him.

" You're going to burn a hole in the ground with that stare." Inuyasha snapped out of his trance, and looked to where Sango was seated. He huffed, and sat with his arms folded in his haori.

" Feh. Probably not, too weak in this body." Sango let out a loud sigh, and cracked her neck.

" You're not too good at accepting fate, are you? You just sound like your hiding beneath all that hair, not wanting to be brave and face it out. I could just be reading into everything too deeply, though." Sango said, looking up into the night sky. Inuyasha was silent. Was he really hiding, was he cowering away from something he should be accepting?

" That's why I want the jewel. To become a full youkai. It's hard, not being accepted..." Inuyasha breathed out, still staring down at the grass. Sango let out a puff of air in a dry laugh.

" I hear you. I know it's not the same, but being the only female slayer was tough. They always wanted to lighten my load, make me weak. Till they all died. Walk with me, Kagome's not coming back anytime soon, and your too stubborn to go get her, so might as well keep the blood in our legs flowing." Sango offered a hand to Inuyasha, who ignored it an stood up. They walked deep into the forest, completely silent. Sango stopped before a clearing.

" You hear that?" Inuyasha strained his ears. Nothing.

" No, what was it?" He asked, turning to Sango. She had on her slayers' uniform, her katana gleaming in the light.

" Breathing." Sango leapt back, and blocked the flying sickle from taking her head. Kohaku reeled it in again, his blank eyes staring at her. Inuyasha backed off to a tree, this was Sango's fight. The blades clanked repeatedly, until Sango yanked the sickle and threw it so it stuck into a tree. Kohaku grabbed his weapon and ran off into the night, but not before unleashing something at her feet. Inuyasha went to see what it was, but didn't hear Sango's warning.

The blast echoed throughout the forest.

* * *

" Uhn... What happened?" Inuyasha groaned out, trying to sit up. He found he couldn't, and observed his surroundings. They were cramped in a small space narrow and low, covered in dirt and debris from trees and rocks. But the first thing he noticed was...

He couldn't breathe very well.

" Inuyasha, help me claw us out, the blast covered us at least 6 feet under, and if we don't act fast we'll die." Sango called, her voice desperate. Inuyasha picked out her form, tearing at the ceiling of their little grave. The dust was thick in the air, and it smelled pungent with dirt and death. Inuyasha sat up, and began clawing at the ceiling. The dirt gave way, but Sango could clearly see a thick splinter of tree covering their chance to breath. It was then that Inuyasha realized what other scent was in the air. Blood.

" Sango, are you hurt? What happened with the blast?" Sango shrugged, as if it was nothing.

" I made sure you got out okay, but I heard my hand crack. Just a little gash, really nothing at all. Okay, just make sure I don't fall, okay?" They had dug a big enough space so that she could stand slightly, and Sango punched up with her right hand, and Inuyasha winced as he heard the crack. Sango pulled her hand back, and they watched as the wood fell to the earth below, leaving them a new space and new air to breath with. Sango sat back down, sweat glistening her forehead. Inuyasha examined her hand. The knuckles were gashed open, and one looked as though it was popped at the wrong angle. She winced as he wrapped it in cloth.

" No, really, it's fine. At least we won't suffocate. As soon as morning hits, we'll be able to break out easier, with the Tetsuiga (sp?)." Sango said, wiping the dirt off of her forehead. Inuyasha growled in his throat.

" Oi, I am not spending all night in this stuffy little hole, we're getting out now!" Inuyasha complain, sitting back. Sango sighed.

" Fine, just give me a minute to breathe... You were out for quite a while, the animals have gone silent." Inuyasha blinked. _Does she think that I can't dig my way out of a hole in this body? Well, I'll show... Hey wait a minute... The air is fine now, but she's still hyperventilating. What's the deal?_

" Hey, what's with you? Did you break a rib, the air's okay to breathe now, you can't be that tired..." Inuyasha said gruffly, standing up in their little grave. Sango shook her head, and stood up, though it was only a few feet in diameter. She sighed, and looked up at the heavy dirt.

" I guess you've never been in this predicament when you were in human form before. I was buried alive, Inuyasha. I know it sounds stupid, because you fear nothing, but it's not the easiest thing to get over. The feeling of dirt on your chest, the darkness, the thickness of the little air you have. The nagging at the back of your mind, screaming that you won't make it. And then you feel your nails break the surface, feel the air on your lungs... You never want to go back, but you know you will. Being back under the forest floor, being buried alive again... I don't understand why we bury the dead, when even as human we can't claw our way out." Sango said, her eyes gleaming in the little starlight they possessed.

" You were thought to be dead? Wouldn't Naraku's henchmen have checked your pulse?" Inuyasha asked, tearing more at the opening. Sango let out a dry laugh.

" I did die. I saw them, all of them, shining in the light, by my favorite field. Everything I loved was there. Until mother pushed my back down the dark hole I came from, making me wake again under 2 feet of dirt. It's hard, because that eternal sleep was such a wonderful thing." Inuyasha stopped, and stared at Sango. _Eternal sleep? If Kagome hadn't freed me, would I have stayed asleep? I don't remember if I saw that place... But I do remember mother..._

Inuyasha stopped staring when he saw Sango turn, take a deep breath, and violently tear at the opening, widening it's base. She hacked with her katana for what seemed like hours, until finally it looked as though someone could fit through. Sango sat back on her haunches, and took a deep breath, once again tired. Inuyasha looked down at her, and gave a small smile. _Such courage, even when she's a human, a weakling in my eyes. Yet she dug us out, with almost no help from me... Is this what I'm lacking? Was I needed to be buried to realize that I could be what she is? _

Inuyasha climbed out of the hole, and offered his hand down to Sango. She took it, and clambered out of the hole, and gazed at the rising sun. She stood tall, her hand still dripping blood, after picking up the fallen Hiraikotsu from the ground. Inuyasha transformed, his long silver mane flashing in the air. He turned to Sango, who was still engrossed in the morning light.

" You made me see something today, but don't tell Kagome. Humans are stronger then I thought they were. Or maybe it's just you, but something clicked with me. See you around." With that, Inuyasha bounded off into the trees, disappearing to Kagome's well. Sango let out another dry laugh, and looked to the hole they had escaped from.

" Note to self: Write a will that says I'll be **cremated**..."


End file.
